Video contest seeks to show the contribution of women scientists and breaking down stereotypes

May 30, 2017

The new version of the contest Chilean Women in Science, sponsored by the Chilean Academy of the Sciences, the CMM, CEDENNA and IANAS, is aimed at students and the general public. Participants’ videos should show, in a maximum of three minutes, part of the life or work of women dedicated to science.

With the aim of raising the profile of the contribution and work of Chilean women scientists, the second Contest for Videos on Chilean Women Scientists was launched at an event on May 17.

The contest is sponsored by the Chilean Academy of Sciences, the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the University of Santiago (Cedenna), the Center for Mathematical Modelling (CMM) and the Inter-American Network of Science Academies (lanas). The contest also has the support of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Gender Equity, whose Sub-Secretary, Bernarda Pérez, stated that “it is fundamental for economic growth and scientific innovation in Chile that more women pursue the sciences, engineering and technology and contribute their abilities and knowledge to these areas”.

Cecilia Hidalgo, Vice-President of the Chilean Academy of the Sciences and 2006 Natural Science Prize winner explained that with the current rate of growth and technological development “our country cannot afford to lose the talent of more than half the population”.

Cedenna’s director, Dora Altbir spoke about the scope of the initiative, “We like to do this contest not just because we believe it provides knowledge about the contribution of women to science and the development of our country, but also because it can serve as a point of entry for many students to wonders of sciences and perhaps awaken a new vocation”.

For Iván Rapaport, a researcher with CMM of the University of Chile, the challenge is to open new opportunities for women and for the entire society: “Why do we need to tell the story of women scientists? The answer is very simple, because unfortunately there are old injustices ad problems that should have been resolved long ago. Nevertheless, they continue to exists in the 21st century. One of these problems is the stereotypes, in particular of women”.

Pioneering contest

The content encourages participants to portray Chilean women scientists in as yet unreleased video productions. There are two categories, one is the general public and the other is students. In both cases, the video productions should be 1 and 3 minutes long and show something the lives and work of Chilean women that contribute to the development of science in our country.

The videos can be of any genre, including video clips, interviews, animations, microdocumentaries, notes or other formats meet the specifications set out in the contest webpage.

This year the members of the jury for the contest are Claudia Pascual, Minister of Women’s Affairs and Gender Equity; Soledad Onetto, journalist in the area of science and technology; Natalia Mackenzie, director of Conicyt Explora Program; María Teresa Ruiz, president of the Chilean Academy of Science and 1997 winner of the National Science Prize (1997); Dora Altbir, Director of Cedenna; and Alejandro Jofré, Director of CMM.